Questions in French grammar
- Intonation Questions
- Questions with est-ce que
- Yes-No Questions
- Question-Word Questions
- Typical French question words and phrases
- Indirect Questions
- Online exercises to improve your French
- Lingolia Plus French
What is une phrase interrogative?
Interrogative clauses (une phrase interrogative) are questions. In French, there are three types of questions:
- intonation questions
- questions with est-ce que
- questions with inverted word order
We also differentiate between yes-no questions (l’interrogation totale) and question-word questions (l’interrogation partielle).
Learn how to ask questions in French with our easy overview, then test out your new knowledge in the free exercises.
Exercise

- Bonjour Julie! Comment vas-tu ?
- Bien, merci! Je vais au cinéma.
- Qu’est-ce que tu vas voir ?
- Un film d’action. Tu aimes aller au cinéma ?
- Beaucoup ! Est-ce que je peux venir avec toi ?
- Si tu veux. Veux-tu acheter du pop-corn ?
Intonation Questions
The simplest kind of question is an intonation question. The word order doesn’t change — we keep the subject – verb – object order the same as in a declarative sentence. The only difference is the rising intonation, which shows that it’s a question.
- Example:
- Tu aimes aller au cinéma. → Tu aimes aller au cinéma ?(Do) You like going to the cinema?
Questions with est-ce que
Questions with est-ce que are mostly used in spoken language. After est-ce que, the sentence keeps its regular form (subject – verb – object). These kinds of questions can be constructed with or without question words.
- without a question word
- Example:
- Est-ce que je peux venir avec toi ?Can I come with you?
- with a question word
Preposition | Question Word | est-ce que | Subject | Verb | Additional Information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Où | est-ce que | tu | vas ?Where are you going? | ||
De | quoi | est-ce que | le film | parle ?What is the film about? | |
Avec | qui | est-ce que | tu | vas | au cinéma ?Who are you going to the cinema with? |
Comment | est-ce que | vous | trouvez | le film ?What did you think of the film? |
To Note
When the question is asking about the subject of the sentence (using qui or que), we have to add est-ce qui instead of est-ce que.
- Example:
- Qui est-ce qui t’accompagne au cinéma ?Who is accompanying you to the cinema?
- Qu’est-ce qui t’a plu dans ce film ?What did you like about the film?
Yes-No Questions
Questions without question-words are those we can answer with yes or no. This is known as l’interrogation totale in French.
- The subject pronoun and the conjugated verb switch positions and are connected using a hyphen. All other parts of the sentence (object, time, place, etc.) remain in the same position as in a declarative sentence.
- Example:
- Tu veux acheter du pop-corn.
→ Veux-tu acheter du pop-corn ?Do you want to buy popcorn?
- If the subject is a noun, it comes before the verb in the main clause. The accompanying subject pronoun comes after the verb.
- Example:
- Vont-ils au cinéma ?Are they going to the cinema?
→ Les enfants vont-ils au cinéma ?Are the children going to the cinema?
- If the conjugated verb ends with a vowel and the subject begins with a vowel, we put a t in between.
- Example:
- Viendra-t-elle avec nous ?Will she come with us?
Éric aime-t-il les films romantiques ?Does Eric like romantic films?
Question-Word Questions
Question-word questions are known as l’interrogation partielle in French. The question-word comes right at the beginning of the sentence.
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If the question contains a preposition, this comes before the question-word.
- Example:
- Avec qui vas-tu au cinéma ?With whom are you going to the cinema?
- Pour qui est le pop-corn ?Who is the popcorn for?
- The subject and the conjugated verb switch positions (the verb comes at the beginning of the question). If the subject is a pronoun, it is connected to the verb with a hyphen.
- Example:
- Où se trouve le cinéma ?Where is the cinema?
- Quand commence le film ?When does the film begin?
- Qui as-tu invité ?Whom have you invited?
Qui represents the direct object here.
- If the subject is a noun, it comes before the verb. The accompanying subject pronoun comes after the verb, they are connected using a hyphen.
- Example:
- Pourquoi va-t-elle seule au cinéma ?Why is she going to the cinema alone?
→ Pourquoi Juliette va-t-elle seule au cinéma ?Why is Juliette going to the cinema alone? - Où sont-ils allés ?Where did they go?
→ Où les enfants sont-ils allés ?Where did the children go?
- If the question-word is que or qu’, we do not use a subject pronoun in addition to the noun like in the example above.
- Example:
- Que veut voir Juliette en premier ?What does Juliette want to see first?
- Qu’a vu ton amie au cinéma ?What did your friend see at the cinema?
- If we’re asking about the subject, the word order in the question remains the same as in a main clause, and the subject is simply replaced with the question-word qui (for people) or que (for things). In this case, the verb has to be in the 3rd person singular.
- Example:
- Qui joue dans ce film ?Who is acting in this film?
Typical French question words and phrases
Question Word | Translation | Asking about … | Examples |
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qui |
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à qui |
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que/qu’ |
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quoi |
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où |
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d’où |
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quand |
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comment |
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pourquoi |
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quel (quelle, quels…) |
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lequel |
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combien |
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Indirect Questions
Indirect questions are questions that have been reformulated as a subordinate clause within another sentence.
- Example:
- Tu me demandes pourquoi je pleure devant les films romantiques.You ask me why I cry at romantic films.
For a more in-depth explanation, see Indirect Questions.